Jack's 1st Professional Haircut

Shelly, our hairdresser in the village is a master of first haircuts. Poor Jack's quivering lips only lasted a minute and he ended up quite enjoying it. Shelly did a great job.

Jack now does our shopping

Susu Moved to Boston

Our most wonderful daycare provider moved to Boston. Susu has family there and it all made sense to make the move. We realized from an early point that Susu is an exceptional daycare provider and it has been an emotional few months (she gave us notice in October). Susu's appreciation for kids has her loved a lot. She's wonderful.

Happiness

This particular rocking horse has been in the same family until I bought it from a local Grandfather on craigslist.org. It is 50 years old and in great condition. We all cherish it. (Just in case you are wondering - only Jack rides it)

When the cat is away....

The mice will play.

Last week we were visiting Mum and John and Mum left her computer "unsupervised".

Nice Hat.....I Mean....Cat!

Every evening, after Jack's bath he gets his bottles of milk with Diego and me. Jack often likes to take advantage of me by sticking his finger up my nostril (doing so in the first photo and again in the one before the last photo).

You can see the love Jack and Diego have for one another.

Halloween

...it has been a while since I last posted...sorry...

Jack was a little red devil (he was a devil last year too). Right around the time we wanted to take Jack and Tazio door to door trick or treating...there was hail. So, Tazio came to visit.

My computer is compromised and I had to reload the operating system in order to buy some time to back everything up (this is when you ask yourself when did you last back up your computer or important files?).

Tazio's costume is wonderful.

In Memoriam - Tootie Fruity

Our beloved cat Tootie Fruity had to be put down on Friday 7/30/10.

I miss her terribly and I still keep having phantom Tootie moments when I walk into a room and something catches the corner of my eye I think it is her.

A friend was adopted by a pregnant cat a few months ago and the cat gave birth 4 weeks ago. As soon as the kittens are weened (in about 2 weeks) we will adopt one. Dick and I went to see the kittens last week. Even though they are cute and cuddly, I felt no excitement (possibly the effect of grief).

I am grateful I didn't follow my immediate reaction to get a replacement cat/kitten right away. I did go window-shopping at the local pet store as an emotional exercise. It did cross my mind I would be comparing the new pet with Tootie. Our relationship was unique, as all relationships should be.

In the meantime, time without Tootie is proving to be cathartic.

This new kitten is going to be so important in Jack's life. They will be best buddies - just like Tootie and I were.

Caroline, Joe and Sam visit

John's daughter Caroline visits (for close to a week) with her husband Joe and their son Sam and their dog "Fruit Salad". They live in Richmond, VA. People are blurred because I didn't use my flash - I wanted to capture the ambiance.

Jack Meets His First Pony & Goat

Impromtu Nap

Today we buried our beloved cat "Tootie Fruity". Tootie was a gift to me from Dick in 1999. Dick and I had a cry in front of Jack at her burial. I think Jack picked up on our grief and together with his physical pain of teething he cried and cried until he fell asleep in my arms. It was out of schedule for him, around 9:30 am (he naps now only around 12pm) and I just wanted to keep him with me for the duration of his nap.

Grieving and nurturing seem to go together.

His nap was only an hour but when he awoke I determined he wanted what ever he could do to remain close to me. That was so cathartic and reassuring that Jack wanted to make me feel "better". It helped.

John's Camp At Moreau

What a cool location - right on the edge of a ravine so quite private. Those lamps are mini lamps (only about 4" tall) and yes, John sleeps on a dog's bed and his dustpan and brush is about 3" wide. Unfortunately this blog will not let me post the panorama of the whole camp.